How do I configure Ubutnu Linux to use open source driver for fingerprint reader (UPEK/SGS Thomson Microelectronics fingerprint
reader [USB ID 0483:2016]) on IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad, Dell and Toshiba laptops?

You can use ThinkFinger driver for the UPEK/SGS Thomson Microelectronics fingerprint reader. The device is being found either as a standalone USB device, built into USB keyboards or built into laptops. ThinkFinger is devided into two parts: libthinkfinger and pam_thinkfinger. libthinkfinger is a library to be used in order to communicate with the fingerprint reader.

To fingerprint reader driver on ThinkPad/Dell/Toshiba from a shell prompt:

1. Open the Terminal app and visit the site thinkfinger.sourceforge.net to grab the driver.
2. Type the following wget command
   $ cd /tmp
$ wget -O file.tar.gz 'http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/thinkfinger/thinkfinger/ThinkFinger%200.3/thinkfinger-0.3.tar.gz?r=&ts=1431928921&use_mirror=softlayer-sng'
3. Extract the tar ball, type:
   $ tar xvf file.tar.gz
4. Compile the driver:
   $ cd thinkfinger-*
$ ./configure --with-securedir-/lib/security --with-birdir-/etc/pam_thinkfinger
$ make
$ sudo make install
$ sudo mkdir /etc/pam_thinkfinger
5. Test the reader:
   $ sudo tf-tool --acquire
$ sudo tf-tool --verify
6. Finally, configure PAM as follows:
   $ sudo cp /etc/pam.d/common-auth /root/
$ sudo vi /etc/pam.d/common-auth
   Append the following:

   auth sufficient pam_thinkfinger.so auth required pam_unix.so nullok_secure try_first_pass

   auth sufficient pam_thinkfinger.so auth required pam_unix.so nullok_secure try_first_pass

7. Now, add your fingerprints for auth, enter:
   $ sudo tf-tool --add-user
8. Verify the reader using the following command:
   $ sudo ls

For more info see Readme and Install guide.